Lodha Committee

The Lodha Committee (formally, the Committee of Administrators for BCCI) was a three-member committee appointed by the Supreme Court of India in January 2015, headed by former Chief Justice of India (CJI) R.M. Lodha. The committee was constituted in the backdrop of the 2013 IPL spot-fixing and betting scandal involving team owners and players, which led to the Supreme Court's intervention in BCCI affairs. Background: The 2013 IPL spot-fixing scandal — in which players and team officials of Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals were implicated in match-fixing and illegal betting — prompted public interest litigations before the Supreme Court. The SC found BCCI's internal governance mechanisms inadequate and directed a clean-up. Lodha Committee Report (January 2016) — Key recommendations: 1. Age limit: No office bearer above 70 years; anyone above 70 must vacate office 2. Tenure limit: Maximum two terms (3 years each) = 6 years total; cooling-off period of 3 years between terms 3. One state, one vote: Only one BCCI vote per state (addressing anomaly where BCCI-associated bodies had duplicate voting rights); associate/affiliate members (like Railways, Services, Universities) lose full voting rights 4. No government servants or ministers to hold BCCI office 5. No one with conflict of interest (team ownership, media rights contracts) to hold office 6. Players' Association: All-India Cricketers' Association for retired players with voting rights in BCCI 7. Independent auditor and ombudsman 8. BCCI to share 26% of net surplus with state associations 9. Right to Information: BCCI to operate under RTI-like transparency norms Supreme Court enforcement: The SC accepted the Lodha Committee recommendations and directed BCCI compliance — appointing Committees of Administrators (CoA) in 2017 to run BCCI until the board complied. BCCI resisted implementation but eventually held elections under the reformed constitution in 2019. BCCI's ongoing resistance: BCCI sought amendments to several recommendations — particularly tenure limits and the one-state-one-vote rule (associate members). The SC has allowed some modifications while maintaining the core governance reforms.

• 1 Constituted by Supreme Court 2015; headed by former CJI R.M. Lodha — 3 members
• 2 Trigger: 2013 IPL spot-fixing scandal (CSK and RR team officials implicated)
• 3 Report: January 2016 — comprehensive BCCI governance reforms
• 4 Age limit: 70 years; Tenure: max 2 terms × 3 years = 6 years; cooling-off 3 years
• 5 One state, one vote: associate members (Railways, Services) lose full voting rights
• 6 No ministers, government servants, or conflict-of-interest persons in BCCI office
• 7 All-India Cricketers' Association for retired players; independent auditor and ombudsman
• 8 SC-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) ran BCCI from 2017–2019 during reform implementation

The Lodha Committee's recommendation that BCCI share 26% of net surplus with state associations — if implemented — would fundamentally change the financial power structure of Indian cricket. The SC's willingness to enforce governance reform on a private body that receives no government funding (using Article 142's extraordinary jurisdiction) is itself a landmark in judicial activism over autonomous bodies.